This seems to be about Cordelia, the daughter of King Lear, as she returns from her exile in France. She
is speaking about her father's madness, as she sails across the channel with the army given her by her husband,
the French king.

HOPE IN THE AIR

LAURA MARLING

There is a man that i know,
For 17 years he never spoke.
Guess he had nothing to say.
He opened his mouth on judgement day,
I listened with all of my might.
I was scared by the look in his eyes,
Like he'd already lost the fight
And there was no hope ever in sight.

No hope in the air,
No hope in the water.
Not even for me, your last serving daughter.
Why fear death, be scared of living?
Oh hearts are small and ever thinning.
There is no hope ever of winning.
Oh why fear death, be scared of living?

I have seen men provoked
and i have seen lives revoked
And i looked at my life and i choked.
From there no more ever I spoke
I can't give up that quick.
My life is a candle and a wick.
You can put it out; you can't break it down.
In the end we are waiting to be lit.

There's hope in the air,
There's hope in the water.
But sadly not me, your last serving daughter.

A friend is a friend forever,
And a good one will never leave, never.
But you've never been south
From what rolls off your mouth.
You will never understand, ever.

You speak minds handed down to you,
By the lies handed down by your truth,
And your angels that dance at your wail
Will mask your scrabbling youth.

I forgave you your shortcomings,
And ignored your childish behaviour.
Laid a kiss on your head
And before i left, said,
"stay away from fleeting favour".

There's hope in the air,
There's hope in the water.
But sadly not me, your last serving daughter.

Pick up your rope, Lord.
Sling it to me,
If we are to battle, i must not be weak.
Give us your strength, world,
And your food and water.
O I am your Saviour.
Your last serving daughter.

There's hope in the air,
There's hope in the water.
But sadly not me, you last serving daughter.

There's hope in the air,
There's hope in the water.
But no hope for me, you last serving daughter

An alternate analysis of this lyric is avaiable at
SONG MEANINGS.
No evidence is offered for any of the author's suppositions, except that Marling went to a religious
school, and that she had a somewhat exaggerated fear of death as a teenager. The author is identified only as
meigwokyan. Here's a quote from that:

"...Marling was raised in a religious school, and probably in a religious home, and it
may have been that her father was quiet, stoic, and emotionally unavailable. Perhaps he presented few words
and less emotion to her until he laid down the law when she was 17 (He hopened his mouth on judgment day),
probably in response to finding out she had done something against his beliefs - in my mind, probably
something to do with a relationship of hers."